The Blue Zone
by KateBB7
Summary: When Jamie doesn't show up to testify in Erin's case, the family and his partner connects through their worry. Short chapters. Independent.
1. Chapter ONE

_AN - Hello! This idea had been stuck in my head for a week now, so I had to get it out and here it is. This is another short story, just a few (less than five) chapters. I'm still working on the next (maybe final or semifinal) chapter of 'Once in a Blue Moon' and 'Into the Dark' wont be long after that, I promise. Well, here's the first chapter, and I've already written the second chapter, but all in good time. Have fun. Enjoy. Leave a review. I love to read your comments. /K._

 **The Blue Zone**

 **Chapter ONE) Thursday, 8.45 am, New York County Supreme Court**

"How strong is your case, Erin? I mean, if he doesn't show, then what?" the burly DA investigator, Anthony Abetemarco, asked the tense woman before him. Erin with her attaché in one hand and a stack of files in the other shrugged and sighed.

"He's my star witness, Anthony," Erin Reagan-Boyle replied anxiously. "If he doesn't show, my whole case is resting on circumstantial evidence," she continued. "At best," she added, just to spell it out.

"Call him again, hell, call everybody. He's got fifteen minutes until the judge bangs that gavel and then we're rolling," Anthony replied and looked around in the court room.

"He should've been here forty-five minutes ago, so I could run him through the details one last time. It's not like him to be late. He knows how important his statement is for the case," Erin said as she juggled the files to her other hand and fished out her phone from the attaché. Anthony once again glanced around the room and seeing how quickly it was filling up, he knew this case would blow up big if the opportunity came.

"I'll go look out front, just in case," the investigator told her and she nodded with the phone to her ear. Erin started to make her way through the people as she listened to the familiar voicemail for the umpteenth time that morning. She pushed through the swing door and dumped all of her precious work on the table in front of her while she shrugged off her jacket, still with the phone pressed to her ear. Angrily, she disconnected the call and tossed the phone on the table and threw her coat on the back of the chair. She scanned the growing crowd behind her and her eyes came to rest on a familiar face in the middle. Once again, Erin pushed through the crowd and reached for the blonde, who was looking for an empty seat.

"Erin, hi, nice to see you," Eddie greeted, as she spun around to the taller woman.

"Do you know where Jamie is?" Erin asked, skipping the pleasantries. Eddie knitted her eyebrows together and a look of confusion changed her face.

"What do you mean? Isn't he here yet?" Eddie asked, suddenly affected by the worry in Erin's face as she shook her head no.

"I've been calling him for an hour and I can't get a hold of him," Erin explained and Eddie pulled out her phone. Maybe she had missed a call from her partner or a text, or something.

"That's weird, he's never late," Eddie replied.

"He, off all people, knows better, than to be late for court. He went to Harvard, for crying out loud," Erin said, doing a good job of containing her boiled up anger towards her youngest brother.

"What about your case? Don't you have evidence and proof to lock him up with?" Eddie asked and Erin shook her head again.

"I have it, but without Jamie statement, it's not concrete," the taller woman replied and pressed her fingers to her temples. "I'll call Danny, maybe he knows something," she continued and headed back to the table, with Eddie in tow.

"I'll go check out his place, maybe he just overslept," Eddie said, even though she knew her partner well enough to say that he would never do that.

"Thank you. Text me when you get there," Erin replied as she speed dialed her older brother. The blonde disappeared from view and Erin caught herself tapping her foot to the floor, impatiently and crossed her arms.

" _Reagan,_ " came the response after the second ring.

"Danny, have you heard from Jamie today?" Erin asked, jumping right at the question. Her brother hesitated, probably aware of the tinge in her voice.

" _No, shouldn't he be in court, closing your case?_ " Danny asked, his voice just as serious as her own.

"He hasn't shown up. But his partner was here and now she's going to check out his apartment," Erin answered as the door in the room opened and a man in a prison jumpsuit was escorted in, leg restraints and handcuffs tied to the belt around his waist.

" _I'll see what I can do. Have you tried dad?_ " Danny asked and tore her focus from the man in orange back to the phone call.

"No, he was my next call. Thanks, Danny," she said and ended the call.

 **Thursday, 6.30 am, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Midtown**

"Male, thirties, strong vitals, unresponsive to pain, possible head-trauma," the seasoned medic announced, as they wheeled into the ER. His partner, the twenty-something younger kid, an overeager newbie, continued the update.

"Found in an alley, near a diner, hasn't been conscious. No wallet, phone or any kind of ID on him. Bruised lips, split eyebrow and defensive wounds on his knuckles. Blood is dry, though, could have been there most of the night," the younger man said to the people around the gurney. The crowd consisted of two doctors and three nurses.

"Let's get CT and X-ray of his head, just in case," the most senior doctor ordered and continued. "Get an IV going with saline… wait a minute…" he continued and paused for a moment when checking the pupils on his newest patient.

"Does anybody see any track marks?" he asked the people around the gurney and they all started looking for a pin pricks.

"He doesn't look like the typical junkie," one of the nurses mentioned as she took in the nicely cut hair and the almost freshly looking clothes.

"Got one," the older one of the medics interrupted and turned the patients head to the left, exposing the right side of the neck.

"Strange place to shoot up, if you were using," another nurse chimed in as they all roamed above the unconscious body.

"Let's run a blood test for the usual suspects, stat," the doctor ordered and they all started milling around, being useful.

More than two and a half hours later the night shift had been replaced by the day shift and new faces were buzzing around the emergency room when one of the younger doctors walked into the cubicle of curtains surrounding the John Doe. Most weeks, he would be one of the few to put in more than eighty hours at the hospital, but it didn't show on him, just yet. More staff had passed by, as to see if the unconscious man looked familiar to anyone, but no one had remembered the face. The police wanted to be updated, as soon as the man woke up, so they could ask him about the assault, but they hadn't actually sent someone down there to babysit him, spending men and time to wait for him to wake up, yet. Only glancing at the patients face, he grabbed the sheet at the end of the bed and looked through the reports. Any second now, the blood test would come back, the doctor thought, and ran through a routine check of the patient. When finished he took a step back and squinted his eyes. A darker bruise had formed on the top of the left cheekbone and the swollen lip had subsided a little bit. A few seconds into his squinting stare, realization dawned upon him and he spun around and rushed through the door.

"Matt, the John Doe… he's a cop, I'm sure of it," he called out to the man in charge of the ER, who was currently on the phone in the other end of the room.


	2. Chapter TWO

_AN - Hello! As promised, the second chapter. Thank you for all the reviews, I really didn't think this drabble would be so welcomed, but it was a happy surprise. What do you think about idea? Hey, psst... my mind is working overtime on another Dannycentric fic... maybe I'll post that one soon, but no promises... don't tell anyone. Hush! Let me know what you think about this chapter. As I wrote in the first chapter, this fic isn't going to be an apprehensive one, just a sidetrack to get my mind to focus on my other stories again. Have fun. Enjoy. Leave a review - you know how much I appreciate them. /K._

 **Chapter TWO) Thursday, 9.15 am, Brooklyn Heights**

"Jamie, open the door!" Eddie called and knocked, no, pounded at the door. She was a little breathless, because she had jogged up the stairs to the right floor, not patient enough to wait for the elevator, which was travelling up. "Jamie?" she called again and actually tried the handle. She pushed open the door and looked inside, before pushing it all the way open, with just one finger. "Hey, Reagan, you descent?" she called through the hall and stepped inside, not that she really cared if he was dressed or not. Her eyes found her partner's phone on the counter, next to his keys and wallet, but she couldn't find his jacket, which would be draped over the chair at the table. "Jamie, this is not funny, you're supposed to be in court…" she trailed of when her eyes landed on the shiny, black gun on the floor, near the couch and looked around the empty space. "Jamie?" she called out once again, this time, her voice was laced with worry. She hurried through the room, checking both the bedroom and the bathroom but not finding anything. Or anyone. She caught her phone from her pocket and was about to text Erin, when her eyes were drawn to the small dots of dark red on the floor in the living room.

"Eddie, is that you?" a familiar voice called from the door and Eddie shook her head back to reality.

"Yeah, in here," she called back when Danny Reagan rounded the corner. "He's not here, but his gun is on the floor and I've found blood over there," she continued and pointed to the floor right in front of the table. "Phone, keys and wallet are on the counter," she added when Danny took a look around.

"Erin called me, so I pulled the GPS on his phone and came straight here," Danny said and hunched by the speckles of blood. It wasn't much, but enough to worry. "I'll call it in. When did you last see him?" he asked when he turned around to Eddie.

"Last night, we went out for beers. He took off early, around eight, because he wanted to practice his statement. The door was closed when I got here," she said, sounding a little bit distracted as she once again took in the sight. A glass of water on the table by the pulled out chair, it all looked untouched. A few lights were still on. No knocked over chairs, broken vases or paintings not hanging straight. Nothing. She was vaguely aware of Danny's phone call when she walked to the counter and touched the screen on her partner's phone. It came to life with eight texts and seventeen missed calls from Erin, five from another number, one from herself and one from Danny.

"You've got something?" Danny asked behind her and she shook her head no. "Maybe you should text Erin about this. The trial should have started already," Danny nodded and she could see the expression in his face that he didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. Especially, when no one knew just how bad the situation was. Jamie was missing, probably taken from his apartment sometime during last night and they had no clue about the who, where and why.

 **Thursday, 9.15 am, New York County Supreme Court**

"Counsel, approach the bench, please," the judge ordered and Erin got to her feet like the criminal defense attorney from the other table. They walked up to the judge, Pete Worthy, one of the more senior judges in the city and with lowered voice, he spoke to the two of them. "Reagan, if your witness is not available in the next fifteen minutes," he began and held up a finger, when she was about to protest. "Fifteen minutes is me, being generous, trust me," he said before she could voice her complain. "No excuse of his can be justified. He's wasting valuable time," the judge said.

"Your Honor, I'm sure there's a very good reason for his absence, believe me, I grew up with him. Officer Reagan has a lot of collars and a law degree from Harvard. He wouldn't be late, unless someone made him," she said discreetly glanced across the room to the man in the orange jumpsuit. She hoped she could change the judge's mind about the first impression Jamie had given the old judge. The defense attorney, Ray Harrington, almost dropped his jaw at the hint Erin threw into the middle of this, but once again, the judge held up a finger to stop him from speaking.

"Are you implying that something happened to your witness, to prevent him from showing up today?" he asked but Erin could only shrug.

"Your Honor, you can't just let her manipulate you into this bullshit lie. Obviously, she can't explain her witness' absence, because she doesn't have a case, but she's implying that my client, a law-abiding citizen, had something to do with it. That's outrageous," the man said in a fiercely low whisper. The judge looked up at the burly man approaching the three of them. His stride was urgent and he had a phone in his hand.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, Your Honor," Anthony began and then looked at Erin. "Bad news. Jamie's missing. Someone grabbed him from his apartment last night. They found his weapon, not discharged, on the floor and some blood. No sign of him anywhere," the investigator informed the trio.

"What? Are you sure?" Erin asked in a hushed, hesitant voice.

"Officer Janko was first on scene, Detective Reagan only five minutes later. It's already reached One PP," he explained and Erin nodded before turning back to the judge and defense attorney, who looked just as shocked.

"Your Honor…" she began but she judge held up a finger to silence her.

"Say no more, you have twenty-four hours to find your witness, Reagan. Good luck. Mr. Harrington, if the investigation proves, that your client was involved in Officer Reagan's absence or somehow connected to it, it'll be worst for himself, do you understand me?" the judge said and the defense attorney nodded with mixed feelings in his face. The judge leaned back and grabbed his gavel. "Court is in recess until tomorrow, 9 am," he said loudly and conversations started immediately with the rustle of people. Erin walked briskly down to her table with Anthony by her side.

"We need to find out what happened. I want every god damn record and transcript of conversations, phone calls and carrier pigeons that came from that bastard, right since he was caught, got it?" she said. It was meant more like an order than a request, but Anthony nodded, already ahead of her. "If that doesn't pan out, I want you to run through all of Harrington's contacts as well," she continued and he nodded again when she pulled on her coat.

"Where are you going?" he asked, when she hurriedly packed up her things.

"To see Danny, maybe we'll find something," she replied and rushed through the lingering crowds. She punched the speed dial to her father while doing her best to suppress the tears she could feel behind her eyes. For a split second her thoughts moved back to the night Joe had died, but she forcefully pushed them away when she shoved open the doors to get outside.


	3. Chapter THREE

_AN - Hello! What do you think? Btw. have you ever thought about, what would happen, if Jamko turned into an official couple? We got the Sunday dinners straight, but they would both need knew partners, and we would hardly get to see them save the day in uniform, together! Argh! But! - nonetheless, I predict something Jamkoish will happen in either the season finale or next season. What do you think? Anyway, here's the third chapter. I hope you like it. As always, leave a review - I do, really love them! /K._

 **Chapter THREE) Thursday, 9.15 am, One Police Plaza**

"Boss, have you heard?" Sid Gormley asked as he rushed into the corner office on the fourteenth floor. Whatever the commissioner was doing, the news he had was more important.

"I know about Jamie, yes," Frank replied and just as he ended the phone call with his oldest son.

"What are you going to do?" Sid asked, still sounding edgy. The door opened again and Garrett Moore stepped in, his trusty phone still plastered to his ear.

"Yes, of course, I'll let him know… thank you… no, he'll be there in ten minutes… yes, thank you," Garrett ended the call and half a smile played over his lips.

"Where will I be in ten minutes?" Frank asked, already standing and walking to the coat hanger.

"What happened?" Sid asked, completely confused about the situation. He had only just learned about Jamie's disappearance.

"Midtown Presbyterian. This morning, a John Doe was brought in and he's just been recognized as a police officer. We have no confirmation yet, but it sounds like Jamie," Garrett explained as he walked back to the door, he opened for the two men. "Abigail has called for your car already and she is calling Danny and Erin with an update right now. Frank shook out the collar on his coat and flattened it when his phone screamed for attention. He grabbed it out of his pocket and answered it quickly when he saw Erin's name on the caller ID.

"Erin, I think we've found him," he greeted her, knowing how much she would worry about her younger brother.

" _What? Where? Is he okay?_ " she asked, having many more questions.

"Midtown Presbyterian. I'll pick you up in two minutes," he answered briskly and ended the call without further words. They were already heading down in the elevator and he turned to Garrett to his right. "What the status?" he asked, referring to the health of the man they were going to see.

"Hasn't been conscious, small bruises and a single needle mark in the neck, that all I know. One of the doctors recognized him from a while ago, something about a cut above the ear and blood all over his face and uniform," the DCPI replied and Frank remembered the Sunday dinner where Jamie had been sporting a couple of butterfly bandages in the hair. That was about four months ago, if he remembered correctly. The perp had taken a swan dive down the stairs to a subway station when Jamie had grabbed him by the collar and followed him down. True to his word, the convoy stopped by Erin's feet less than two minutes later and then sped uptown for six minutes. Even with the heavy morning traffic, they weaved through the cars, easily. The flashing lights made their passage much easier and a good deal faster. As the four of them speed walked into the ER, a doctor approached them and greeted them with a tense smile.

"Our John Doe has no broken bones, we don't even think he's got a concussion, but the blood results just came in," he said as they walked down the hallway and turned around a corner. "There's a lot of lorazepam in his system and trace amounts of ketamin, both of which is probably why he's still unconscious. Everything else is mostly superficial lacerations and bruises," the doctor explained hurriedly and opened a door to a room. He took a step back as Frank and Erin walked into the room and he followed them inside.

"That's him. Jamie Reagan," Frank confirmed for the doctor without taking his eyes of Jamie.

"We've countered the drugs in his system, so he should be waking up soon. The lorazepam could give him some memory loss, but he should recover pretty quickly," he finished as Frank stepped closer to the bed. It was definitely his son.

"Thank you, Doctor," Erin said quietly and walked up to the other side of the bed. Her mind started to conjure up every kind of possibility to why her brother was lying here. If this had something to do with her trial, she would make the case and get the proper parties locked up for a long time. Frank had taken a seat in the chair next to the bed and was holding on his son's hand. He couldn't take his eyes on Jamie's face. The bruised cheekbone, cut lip and split eyebrow, nothing he hadn't seen before, but mostly they had been on Danny or even Joe, which he had gotten used to. But seeing the wounds on Jamie, was just out of place. Once again, Frank's phone shrilled in his pocket and he answered it, without glancing away from his son.

" _Is it him? Is he alright?_ " Danny almost yelled into his ear and Frank had to momentarily remove the phone. Even Erin could hear her brother from the phone.

"It's Jamie… the doctor thinks he's fine, he should wake up any minute," Frank replied distantly.

" _Thank god,_ " Danny breathed a relieved sigh. " _We'll be there in five minutes,_ " he continued and Frank could vaguely hear the roaring of the engine. With Danny driving it would be closer to three minutes. Maybe even two minutes if he used the lights and siren.

"We?" Frank asked and his mind briefly flashed to his partner, Baez.

" _Yeah, I got Janko with me... we'll be there soon,_ " he replied and ended the call without another word.

A distant rumble pulled him out of the murky depths he had been roaming in for too long. He was vaguely aware of the presences around him and he realized he was on a bed. He tried, with all his might, to open his eyes, but it was like they were glued together, so he let it go for a moment and focused on his hearing. The low voice of his father was right next to him, but he could make out the words yet. Erin's quiet, worried tone was on his other side. His arms and legs were heavy, like he had been sleeping for too long. Mentally he walked through his body, making sure nothing was broken, flexing his muscles the best he could. His brain felt like cotton and he had a hard time remembering what had landed him in a bed. He didn't recall going to bed or falling asleep. Once again, he tried opening his eyes and a little sliver of light made him squint. If he had the control, he would have cringed his nose and turned away, but his whole body was being weighed down by a thousand years, apparently.

"Jamie?" One single word, his name, reached him and he took in a deep breath to reply.

"Mmm…" was all he could muster for the moment and he let go of the breath again. He wasn't even sure if it was hearable. After a while, he tried to open his eyes but it took a few tries to keep them open.

"Hey," Erin greeted him and Frank smiled, or rather, his moustache curled upwards. Jamie blinked slowly took in another breath. Several breaths, until he was sure he could express himself with more than grunts and moans.

"Trial?" he asked, trying to focus his eyes on Erin and she shook her head.

"In recess. How are you feeling?" she threw back at him and turned shrugged. Or tried to.

"What… happened?" he asked, this time looking at his father, questions in his eyes.


	4. Chapter FOUR

_AN - Hello! Thank you all for the great response, I really appreciate it. I apologize for the break, but here's the fourth installment of this story. Because of you, I might just drag this one out to fill more than the intentional five chapters, but no promises. Hope you like this one. /K._

 **Chapter FOUR) Wednesday, 8.30 pm, Brooklyn Heights**

Jamie pushed open the door to his apartment walked inside. He sighed as he tossed the contents of his pocket on the counter. Keys, phone and wallet landed in a neat pile in the middle and he grabbed a glass from the cupboard and filled it with water from the tap. He walked to the table and set down the glass before retrieving his case notes and reports, so he could practice his testimony for tomorrow. He brought the papers back to the table and sat down, just as a knock on the door sounded throughout the apartment. The knocks were hurried, loud and persistent so he almost jogged to the door, flinging it open, not knowing what to expect. The next second an echoing impact to his head sent him to the floor, dazed and confused. He didn't even get the chance to utter a single word before hands grabbed him by the arms and roughly pulled him upright and towards the door. That was when his brain decided to kick in and his instincts took over. Jamie threw himself backwards against the two men holding on to his arms. He surprised them enough so that he flung out of their hands and stepping back, already reaching for his gun at the small of his back. He raised it up high, leveling the aim at the biggest of the two men, the one on the left, but before he could even think about squeezing of a shot, the gun was knocked out of his hands. Apparently, he was more dazed than first anticipated, which showed in his movements. His weapon skidded along the floor and he brought up his hands to block the row of punches suddenly thrown at him. He managed to land a few jabs of his own, but far from enough as another jaw rattling punch landed square on his chin and sent him to the floor, landing on his stomach. He could feel the pulsating burn on the left side of his face and the thick blood trickling down his cheek. He probably got something in his eye as well, because everything seemed blurry and out of balance. He could also taste the blood and he saw the droplets of blood on the floor in front of him, dripping from the corner of his mouth. He felt one of the men looming above him before a fist grabbed a handful of his hair and turned his head. He took in a sharp breath when a pinch to his neck made him wince and all of the sudden his body started failing him and his mind grew slower and fuzzier. Before he passed out, his head was dropped to the floor again and everything went black.

"Hey, look at this, man," the scrawnier of them said and pointed to the papers on the table.

"Bring them and let's go," the bigger one replied after he had glanced at the files.

"I don't understand, why we can't just let him float in the river," the scrawnier one said, almost whiny.

"That's not the orders, you know that. He paid us to make sure that he didn't show up in court. Anything else is his problem, Paul," came the response.

"But Chris…" Paul began. He stopped when the bigger man sent him a look.

"Don't," Chris warned and gestured to the unconscious man on the floor. "This one's a cop. Put one of those in the ground and you'll have to watch over your shoulder the rest of your life. And to make it worse, this one is NYPD royalty, the golden boy on the streets," Chris continued. Paul huffed and stepped over the cop and grabbed the files from the table.

"Dips for the legs," he mumbled and took the files under the arm. Chris sighed and bent down to turn the lifeless man onto his back.

 **Thursday, 9.30 am, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Midtown**

"What… happened?" he asked, this time looking at his father, questions in his eyes. "Was I shot? On duty?.. is Eddie alright?" he asked as his eyes grew worried, on the edge of panic, he would think, if he had seen himself. He padded himself down, searching for the potential bullet wound, when he sat up straight in the bed, much to his father's disapproval.

"Relax, son. You were attacked in your apartment last night," Frank replied and pushed Jamie back down in the bed when his eyes flickered. Jamie voluntarily leaned back down because his head throbbed and the room spun around him.

"Ugh," was his only response as he rested his arm over his eyes. All three of them were silent for a while, letting it sink in before Jamie peaked out from under his arm.

"Last night? I don't remember anything from …" he zoned out for a second, trying to remember. "Beers… with Eddie," he decided and removed his arm, only to replace it with his hand.

"The doctors found some drugs in your system that would cause a temporary memory loss, but it shouldn't be anything to worry about," Erin said, clearly sounding relieved. She had shredded her jacket and draped it over the chair she was seated in.

"We're just happy to see that you are alright," Frank said, just as the door burst open and Danny rushed inside with Eddie right behind him. Danny's face turned from tensed up to relieved and then to neutral. Eddie mimicked him, but instead of her face going neutral her eyes warmed and the corners of her mouth twitched.

"Dad, is he alright?" Danny asked and scrutinized Jamie's form before him.

"He will be," Frank replied with a smile and got to his feet. He turned half around and nodded to Eddie, gesturing to move from the doorway to take a seat in the chair. She hesitantly walked to chair and sat down, not saying a word.

" _He_ is right here," Jamie said pointedly and lowered his hand.

"Yeah, but _he_ would just say he's fine and brush if off, like it was just another road rash on the knee," Danny threw pointedly back at his brother. Jamie glared at him, but he felt queasy enough to not start arguing with Danny right now, so he looked to Eddie for help but she only shrugged and smiled.

"Oh, I'm with your brother on that one," she said and glanced at the said detective.

"Traitor," Jamie muttered jokingly and laid his head back in the pillows with his eyes tightly closed. He shut out the talk around him after Danny declared he wanted the case and he almost thought he drifted for a minute or two, until Erin put a cold hand on his arm and he peered up at her face, squinting again.

"What's wrong, Jamie?" she asked and suddenly all of them was looking at him, curiously and concerned.

"Just a little dizzy, that's all," he replied and closed his eyes again. "I'm trying to remember what happened last night," he continued, when he still felt Danny's scrutinizing eyes on him.

"It will pass, son, don't worry about it," Frank said from the end of the bed where he was standing.

"I'll find the doctor," Erin volunteered and walked out of the room.

"Detective Reagan, do you have a minute?" the Frank asked, turning back to their previous conversation. Danny looked at him for a moment before glancing at his brother and then headed for the door with the commissioner right behind him, effectively leaving Jamie and Eddie alone.


	5. Chapter FIVE

_AN - Hello! I'm on a roll today... I've got another question for you: why do you read fanfic and how does it make you feel? Remember to leave a review. I really love reading all the amazing notes from you guys. Enjoy. /K._

 **Chapter FIVE) Wednesday, 7.00 pm, 12** **th** **precinct**

"Are you up for a round of having your ass handed to you? Cause I'm in desperate need of a cold beer and a round of darts. Especially, the last one, if your game is as bad as usual," Eddie said when she walked into the men's locker room like usual. She found her partner in the middle of pulling a dark blue t-shirt over his head and he gave her that 'the-door-is-there-so-you-can-knock-before-entering-look'. She raised a hand and knocked the side of a locker. "There… come on, Reagan, you shouldn't be so shy. You realize that you could look worse, right?" she commented with a smirk and a shrug. Jamie's mouth twitched and he cocked his head, humored.

"Is that you, telling me, I'm hot?" he asked, chuckling to himself.

"No, you're not my type. Too much boy scout, you know. No, I'm saying that you don't look bad. And before you say anything, that's not the same thing as being hot," Eddie replied, not skipping a beat.

"Oh, yeah, I see that I need to brush up on my pick up lines, as well" Jamie said, still smiling and Eddie pointed at him as he pulled on his jacket.

"That you do," she confirmed. "You need to dust off that Harvard brain of yours and start working on today's lines. Put it to good use, somewhere," she continued and crossed her arms.

"Beers and darts? I'm all in for proving you wrong about who is being handed their ass, but I'm telling you, it won't be me," Jamie said, replying to the earlier asked question, subtly changing the subject.

"Oh, you are so on, loser buys second round," his partner said, accepting the challenge.

"Not for too long, though, I have to prepare for Erin's case tomorrow," he said as he slung his duffle bag over his shoulder and walked to the door.

"Yeah, that aggravated assault starring Liam Ryder?" she asked sardonically and rolled her eyes. "What a scumbag, he deserves to be behind bars, like three weeks ago," she commented as the two of them walked out the front door of the precinct. Jamie mumbled in the affirmative as he recalled the day. The two of them had been chasing a small time dealer down the street and into an alley. Jamie had yelled for Eddie to stay on him, as he continued down the street and into the next alley to apprehend the kid. He knew those alleys like the back of his hand, so he had no doubt that he would meet up with them again. But as he had turned the corner to the next alley, he all but fell over a two men, one of them on the ground, bleeding heavily from somewhere. The other man was standing over him with a raised aluminum pipe over his head, already starting the swing to the other man's head when Jamie had plummeted into him and tackled the man to the ground. He hadn't even had time to stop before he had collided with the attacker. With some effort and a small cut in his hairline, the man was cuffed and Eddie walked around the corner with their original perp in cuffs. They had called for another black and white and an ambulance and soon after the snowball was rolling. The bleeding, but conscious, man, Jonathan Bradley, had been taken to the hospital. Jamie had almost forgotten about the small cut, until Eddie had handed him a napkin.

Fifteen minutes later, they had received their pitcher of beer and had grabbed the darts for their game of the night.

"Bulls eye," Jamie cheered at his own throw with his hands raised in the air and saw his partner roll her eyes mockingly.

"You wouldn't know a bulls eye if it ran up and bit you in the ass," she sighed and retrieved the darts for her own turn. Jamie scoffed and filled up her glass before topping up his own.

"Ever the critic," he laughed and yelped when she punched him, hard, on his shoulder. "You know, we actually do have punching bags in the gym," mentioned, still laughing, and rolled his shoulder. "We need to work on your foot work," he added, knowing the potential for another blow to his shoulder.

"Watch your words, Reagan, or you'll see foot work instead of these babies hitting a perfect hundred," Eddie warned him with a smile and threw a perfect shot at the board with her second dart. Jamie took in a sharp breath and handed Eddie her glass of beer for a well thrown shot. Jamie raised his glass and took a greedily swig. He had to admit, Eddie had skills, when it came to shooting darts. But if they found themselves in a bar with a pool table, she would be the one buying the rounds, he decided and had another drink of his glass just as Eddie hit another bull's eye and danced victoriously back to the table.

"Beat that, partner," she challenged, beaming with the victory and glowing with the beer.

"You're so cruel. Can't you at least pretend to fail, just one throw," Jamie asked and stood to retrieve the darts.

"No, what would be the fun in that, when I could crush you with my eyes closed?" she said and sipped at her glass.

 **Thursday, 9.45 am, New York Presbyterian Hospital, Midtown**

"So you have no collection of what happened last night?" Eddie asked, when Danny had left the room. "No faces to go on? Nothing?"

"I remember having to pay for the second round," Jamie said dryly and leaned his head back. "I don't remember leaving the bar," he said, irritated with his own memory.

"Ugh, too bad you don't remember how I crushed you in that second game of darts," Eddie said mockingly and Jamie smiled.

"Don't get too confident," he said warmly and closed his eyes for a moment while swallowing the bad taste in his mouth.

"Yeah, we definitely need to work on your social skills with the ladies. We can't have you run around like this," Eddie replied.

"Hey, I was drugged, can't really help it," he joked as the door opened and a doctor walked in with Erin in tow.

"I hear that you are experiencing dizziness?" the doctor said and checked the journal before running through the most basic evaluation. "Any nausea or something else, Mr. Reagan?" he asked and Jamie nodded.

"It's just Jamie, please," the youngest Reagan informed the doctor who barely nodded.

"Dizziness, nausea, headache and tiredness is all," Jamie confirmed and the doctor scribbled some notes down in the chart.

"That is to be expected. Right now we are flushing your system with drugs to counter the effects of the lorazepam and ketamin, which explain the Dizziness and headache. The drugs you were administered explains the tiredness, they are used for sedation. The nausea is your body taking care of the residues from all the drugs in your system," the doctor explained and turned to Erin. "If anything changes, let me know," he said, before whisking out of the door.

"See, I'm fine," Jamie said and yawned. "Where did they go?" he asked, referring to Frank and Danny, as he looked to the door.

"They went down to the cantina for some coffee, can I get you anything?" Erin asked, ready to move heaven and earth for her brother.

"No, it's fine, you should go back to work," Jamie said and closed his eyes a minute, or at least he thought so.


	6. Chapter SIX

_AN - Hello! I made it! Here's the sixth chapter and I hope you like it. Danny's on the case and not too much action, but I thought it should be a chapter for itself. Remember to leave a review. I hope you like it. Have a good night. /K._

 **Chapter SIX) Thursday, 2.00 pm, 54** **th** **precinct**

"Sit tight, Mr. Watkins," Danny said as he exited the interrogation room and closed the door. Baez handed him a folder and he leafed through it.

"Chris Watkins' partner, Paul Ford, was just detained by a patrol unit. He should be here in ten minutes, if not less," she told him with a smile.

"Great," Danny determined. "Maybe we can get to the bottom of this and find out who hired them," he continued and looked over the screen shots from the surveillance cameras at Jamie's building. How stupid could the two of them be, when they decided to drag an unconscious man through the front entrance, he wondered and scoffed. When watching the video, he had almost laughed, if it wasn't for the pent up anger inside him. The bigger one, Chris Watkins, had been recognized only five minutes after the BOLO had been issued and picked up shortly after. He had been arrested a few times, so he was in the system and his partner Paul Ford had just caught.

"Where do you want him?" she asked as he handed her back the folder and put a hand on the door handle again.

"Put him in a chair next to my desk and then come get me with a legal pad fifteen minutes later. Make sure to walk him through here. I want to see Watkins's face when he sees his partner being dragged in for questioning. Maybe he'll start spilling his guts," Danny said and pushed the door open again.

"Sorry about that, Mr. Watkins," he apologized and closed the door.

"Hmm," the criminal only replied, looking down at his restricted hands.

"You see, my partner, she just told me that Paul Ford turned himself in and he's coming here to give his full confession in just a little time," Danny said as he took a seat in front of the man, who lifted his gaze.

"Whatever," the man retorted, looking Danny straight in the eyes. Danny shrugged and leaned back in the chair.

"You know, you seem like one of the smarter guys," Danny began and paused for effect. "I believe you know all about this, and who ever talks first get the better deal, right? Sign of cooperation and all," he continued, matter-of-factly. "See, the point is, you're going to prison, whether you talk or not, because we have plenty of evidence to put you away for years. The best part of it is we got you on tape. I can put whatever on you, right from breaking and entering to aggravated assault, unlawful imprisonment, home invasion, hindering an investigation, kidnapping and attacking a police officer," he said, raising his voice to the last few words. Watkins only looked past his shoulder, and his gaze shifted to the corner. "That's just a percentage of what I'll book you for, and then my sister, A.D.A. Reagan, will probably have some charges of her own, seeing as you've stalled an ongoing trial when you were tampering with her star witness, which just so happens to be our kid brother," Danny said, now leaning forward and resting his elbows on the table, his face changing. Watkins was silent for a while when his eyes found Danny's.

"Technically, it sounds like your brother was just … misplaced. And I've asked for my lawyer already. You can't talk to me anymore," he smirked and Danny leaned back with a smirk of his own.

"Right, but nothing stops me from thinking out loud," Danny replied. "And right now I'm wondering which one of you morons will get a deal.

"I'm not…" Chris Watkins began when his eyes focused on the door behind Danny. His eyes travelled from one side to another and searched through the window before returning to rest on Danny again, surprisingly calm. Danny had turned around and followed the man's gaze. Baez had been leading the way for two uniforms, each with a grasp on Paul Ford's arms.

"Now is your last chance to get out in front of this," Danny informed him and cocked his head to the side.

"Where's my lawyer?" he asked and Danny looked at his watch.

"Must be stuck in traffic," Danny only replied with a shrug and leaned back in the chair again. Watkins scoffed and looked through the window for a moment.

"Have you even called him? His office is just three blocks away," the man said and Danny raised his eyebrow as saying 'I don't care', challenging him. Watkins's smile tightened into a scowl and his hands tensed into fist. "Who's stalling now, huh? Shouldn't have let your brother take another breath," he sneered at Danny, whose face turned into a tight frown as he stood and leaned across the table.

"People like you are hired help. So who's paying you? Are you being paid enough to go to jail? Cause the question isn't 'if you go to jail'. It's 'for how long'," Danny said and sighed dramatically. His fingers itched, he just wanted to punch the man into next week, but he tightened his fist so it wouldn't happen. Erin had warned him, about the case being by the book. He wasn't going to make it a slippery slope for any of them.

"You can't do this… I want my lawyer," he said again and rattled the cuffs to make a point.

"And I want whoever hired you," Danny shot back at him, his voice suddenly raised. "Give me a name, and you'll get your lawyer," he said, hoping this last piece of negotiation would do the trick. Watkins glared at him and realized the detective was serious. He also realized he should never have agreed to do a cop, no matter the price.

"Woody," the big man sighed and shrugged. "That's all I got. We spoke on the phone once. Gave me a name and an address and what he wanted done," he said, suddenly deflated. Danny stood and glanced out the window where he caught a glimpse of his partner by the desk.

"First name or last name?" Danny asked as he reached into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out Watkins's phone. Watkins shrugged when Danny scrolled through the phone.

"Don't know. The number should be in the log," he said and leaned back in the chair. Like Danny thought, not the smartest criminals.

"This one?" Danny asked and showed Watkins the screen. He nodded, recognizing the phone number. "Call him, tell him the police are asking questions and that you want more money if you have to stay quiet," Danny said.

"What if he doesn't believe me?" he asked, a flash of nervousness flickered in his eyes.

"You better make him believe it," Danny warned with an edge to his voice. He got to his feet when Watkins made the call and glanced out the window to the bullpen. Baez raised an eyebrow curiously and he gave her a single nod. The dial tone echoed in the room, the phone clicked three times and a voice spoke.

"Hello," a woman greeted and Watkins looked to Danny, confusion in his face.

"Who's this?" Danny spoke as he grabbed the phone.

"Adelaide Pembroke, Mr.," the woman replied. Her voice was young, trusting.

"I'm Detective Reagan. Is this your phone?" he asked and she hummed.

"No, it's a payphone. I just happened to walk by," she replied, her voice now more serious.

"All right, thank you," Danny said and ended the call, wondering. He would get the tech guys on it, but he was fairly certain about the call being diverted. He left the room with a confused Watkins and headed for his desk.


End file.
